Black Butler: Curse of the Blood Moon
by BlueRaven 666
Summary: Many myths surround the Blood Moon. Some say it symbolizes the end of the world, others say it has a profound affect on spirits and demons. Sebastian finds himself in a contract during one of these Blood Moons, and Ciel's life may be at risk. How far will Sebastian go to protect his master from himself, and how far will Ciel go to uncover the truth?
1. PART 1

**The Curse of the Blood Moon**

* * *

 _"There are nights when the wolves are silent, and only the moon howls . . ." - George Carlin_

* * *

Ciel couldn't sleep. Not for the reasons he normally couldn't sleep. He hadn't had a nightmare, nor had anything happened earlier in the day to cause him any unrest. The day had been busy with a history lesson, a trip into town to investigate the latest murder, and an hour's worth of those god-forsaken dance lessons Sebastian insisted he take. When he thought about it, that could have been the reason why Ciel couldn't sleep.

Sebastian had been acting strangely all day. The only way Ciel could describe it was as a sensitivity to the environment surrounding him. Every sound, no matter how subtle it was, was distracting; like a starving predator anticipating a meal, yet alert for another predator to jump out from the brush and attack. Certain smells seemed to prove to be equally as distracting. Ciel had done his best to ignore all the times he'd glance back at him and see him flaring his nostrils and wrinkling his nose, almost as if there was an overwhelming stench in the air. Then there was the fact that the demon had been tense all day; looking around, glancing over his shoulder, and looking uneasy.

Originally, Ciel had just written it off as a weird demon thing; something similar to his unnatural obsession with cats. Maybe the filth of London was getting to him, or perhaps someone had been following them, and Sebastian had just been trying to keep track of both them and his master. He wasn't sure, but he knew there had to be a logical explanation for it all.

But all of that had changed earlier that night when Sebastian had tucked him into bed. The first thing that struck him as odd was when the demon had left as soon as the earl was settled into bed. Even when Ciel had ordered him to stay by his side until he fell asleep, Sebastian had declined stating that he couldn't stay by his side that night, and jokingly told him to be a brave little boy. Just for tonight.

The next thing that struck him as odd, and even had him concerned, was when Sebastian had exited the room, and locked it behind him.

This is what had done in Ciel's ability to sleep. Sebastian never locked the earl's bedroom door behind him when he left. Whatever was going on with Sebastian was bad enough that he felt the need to lock him in . . . or, perhaps, keep himself out.

Curiosity got the better of Ciel as he crawled out of bed and made his way towards the door. He was trying to figure out how he was going to get himself out of the room when he felt something cold and hard under one of his bare feet. Just barely visible in the light of the full moon was the key that went to the lock on his door.

Now Ciel was certain. The earl was unaccustomed to doing things himself. Even buttoning his own shirts and tying his own ties were a challenge that he couldn't beat, so his butler wouldn't lock him in his room and toss the key under the door to get him to do things himself. Sebastian was trying to lock himself out.

As he was unaccustomed to doing things himself, it took the young earl a few minutes to fit the key into the keyhole just right to get it to slide in and turn, and it took another moment for the key to turn the right way so the door would open. Ciel peered through the narrow gap that had opened up before him and listened. The hallway outside his room was dark, deathly silent, and still. The other servants were most likely asleep, and Sebastian had to be somewhere around the mansion doing his nightly rounds. Or so he assumed.

The floorboards creaked ominously under Ciel's feet as he searched for his butler. It was too quiet. At the very least, he expected to hear the clapping of Sebastian's shoes against the floors as he moved about, or the faint glowing of the candle he'd carry with him. Instead, throughout the mansion, he heard nothing but the creaking of the floorboards under his feet against the eerie silence that seemed to envelop his home.

After finding no traces of Sebastian on the second floor, Ciel made his way down to the first floor and turned down the hallway that led towards the downstairs where the servants worked. He passed the sleeping chambers of the other servants, hearing nothing but the light snores coming from Finny and the loud, rattling snores from Bard. Their was a stairway that led up to Mey-Rin's bed chambers, tucked out of the way so her nightly routine didn't interfere with her master's. Towards the end of the hall, just past the doors to the kitchen, wine cellar, and supply rooms, was Sebastian's quarters. The room was practically unused. Since the demon never slept, he normally just went in there to dress and undress . . . as well as feed the growing number of cats he kept hidden in his wardrobe.

If Sebastian was nowhere to be found throughout the rest of the mansion, then that could only mean that he was in there.

* * *

 _"'So softly it starts,' he whispered. 'Foolishly clever and with an unsurvivable trust. It just saved your miserable life, that questionable show of thought, my itchy-witch.' Al's smile shifted, becoming lighter. 'And now you will live to possibly regret it.'" - Kim Harrison, "The Outlaw Demon Wails" (The Hollows, #6)_

* * *

As Ciel approached the door to Sebastian's room, he could see that the door had been left ajar. The flickering light of a candle could be seen illuminating a small corner inside. As the earl looked through the gap in the door, he could see the candle sitting atop Sebastian's desk, but the butler was nowhere in sight.

"Sebastian?" Ciel called out, "Are you in there?"

Receiving no response, he pulled the door open and approached the candle that sat on the desk. Next to it was a pistol elaborately decorated in rubies and silver. It was fully loaded with the hammer pulled back. Underneath where the pistol had been placed was a note that Ciel assumed had been by Sebastian, only something about it was off. It wasn't written in the delicate cursive that the butler normally wrote in. Instead, the note had been written in crude chicken scratch.

 **'DoN'T hESiTaTe. It Is ThE BlOOD MooN. CAn'T PRoTeCT YoU."**

The words sent a chill up Ciel's spine as he kept looking the note over. Sebastian had never said anything about the Blood Moon or how it affected him. The fact that he had written this note and left him the gun meant that he had expected Ciel to unlock himself from his room, and he expected him to go looking for him and come into his bed chambers. But that left one question on Ciel's mind. What happened to demons during the Blood Moon?

A noise coming from within Sebastian's wardrobe caught Ciel's attention. Normally filled with the mewling of cats, the only sound that could be heard now was a chorus of nervous growls. Curious, the earl picked up the candle and made his way over to the doors of the wardrobe. He pulled one of them back in a swift motion and met the eyes of a large cat with long black fur. The green orbs only glanced at him for a moment before they locked onto something just beyond the earl's shoulder. A few other cats crept up and peeked into the room outside, but quickly retreated deeper into the wardrobe.

Ciel tossed a glance over his shoulder, wondering what was there that they were so focused on. He could have sworn he saw a dark shape retreat underneath the bed. He tried to reason with himself that it was just a cat that had crawled out of the wardrobe, but some part of him was uneasy and doubted that reason. He had only caught a glimpse of Sebastian's cat hoarding obsession a couple of times before, but each time the cats were friendly and eager to be loved by the people that resided within the mansion. They seemed to be magnetically drawn to Sebastian in particular, as they practically threw themselves at him, approaching him like he was their rightful owner. Even the feral cats warmed up to the demon's presence almost instantly, and yet here was his collection of furry, purring, allergy-inducing pets with eyes wide and fur bristling.

Cautiously, Ciel stepped back over towards the desk and reached for the pistol, not once taking his eyes off of the dark abyss that seemed to lay under the bed.

"Sebastian?" he called again, "Is that you under there?"

Once again, he received no response.

Ciel crept up to the edge of the bed and knelt down, gun in hand and ready to pull the trigger if he had to. As he sat there, he felt a hot breath brush against his bare knee.

"Sebastian?"

He was about to bend down and look under the bed, when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder. Ciel jumped, spun around, and aimed the gun. In the faint light still provided by the candle, he could see Tanaka stooped down beside him, the barrel of the pistol mere inches from his nose.

"Young Master," the elderly servant spoke in a confused tone, "What on earth are you doing down here at this hour?"

Ciel relaxed and light out a small sigh, "I was looking for Sebastian."

"Mr. Sebastian is still doing his nightly rounds," Tanaka explained as he picked him up and carried him towards the door, "You should be in bed, my lord. You'll make yourself ill."

As Tanaka carried him out of the room, Ciel kept his eyes fixed on the dark room that lay beyond the open door. Before they turned the corner that led to the stairway, he could have sworn he saw a large pair of glowing red eyes glaring at him from the darkness.


	2. PART 2

_"The stars can influence the devils themselves . . . Certain men who are called lunatics are molested by devils more at one time than at another; and the devils . . . would rather molest them at all times, unless they themselves were deeply affected by certain phases of the moon." - Malleus Maleficarum_

* * *

Ciel had given up on trying to get to sleep. Ever since Tanaka had gotten him settled into bed, he had been sitting there against his pillows clutching the pistol he'd taken from Sebastian's room with his eyes locked on the door. He was nervous, unable to get the image of those burning eyes out of his head. He remembered the note that had been left under the gun, and as he glanced out of his bedroom window he could see the moon glowing bright red, and the shade of it seemed to grow darker as time passed.

None of Ciel's questions had been answered, making him that much more nervous. On top of that, new questions were beginning to surface. Why had Sebastian's cats been so scared? What exactly darted under the butler's bed when he had turned around? Who or what did those pair of eyes belong to? Most importantly, where was Sebastian?

Ciel knew that Tanaka's statement, that the butler was still doing his nightly rounds, was a blatant lie. If that had been the case, he would have at least seen or heard him walking around. If that had been the case, that gun and the note underneath it wouldn't have been there. If that were the case, it would have been Sebastian that would have found him and brought him back to his chambers. If that had been the case . . .

If that had been the case, Tanaka wouldn't have locked his door again just before he left.

Something was going on with Sebastian. Something that would put Ciel's life in immediate danger if he left his room. Tanaka hadn't asked him to leave behind the peculiar pistol. That had to mean that Ciel was meant to find it. He was meant to find the note, and Tanaka was meant to bring the earl back to his bed chambers once he had.

Ciel moved to tuck the pistol underneath his pillow when something caught his attention. It was the sound of footsteps approaching his bedroom door, yet the earl couldn't identify who they belonged to. Sebastian's gate was very prominent; a loud but steady tapping sound that shoes often made against hardwood floors, like those of the hallway outside. Tanaka's footsteps were nearly silent when he wasn't in his able servant form, and when he was they sounded similar to Sebastian's, but just a touch quieter. They were not the uncoordinated clicks of Mey-Rin's shoes, nor were they the thunderous stomps from Bard. They weren't Finny's or Pluto's . . . so whose were they?

The closer the footsteps got, the more Ciel began to realize that they sounded less like those of a human, and more like those of a wounded animal; an uneasy shuffling sound that was just trying to hurry along its way. They were two doors down from his room . . . then one door . . . then they were right outside . . .

And then, silence . . .

Ciel waited and listened. He could have sworn he could hear something breathing just on the other side of the door. It was as if whatever was out there knew Ciel was in there, and was just waiting for him to unlock the door. He clutched the pistol close to him once more as his eyes locked onto it. He saw the handle jiggle a few times, creating a sudden metallic rattling sound that made him jump. When whoever or whatever was outside realized that the door was locked, a persistent scratching started up. It was the kind of scratching sound a dog's paws produced when it was separated from it's owner. However, the only dog in the Phantomhive family was the demon hound Pluto, and Pluto had been taught well that scratching on doors in a desperate plea for attention warranted him a ruthless beating from Sebastian. On top of that, Sebastian always made Pluto sleep outside. It couldn't have been him.

After a few minutes of this, the pacing of the scratching changed; less animal-like, and more . . . human. Fingers with prominent nails dug deep into the wood of the door, sending an unpleasant grinding sound throughout the room. Ciel's heart raced as he worked up the nerve to climb out of bed and approach his door. His pistol was in front of him, finger over the trigger and ready to shoot. It seemed to be his only protection against what was trying to get in.

Ciel pressed himself against the door knob and waited, giving his racing heart time to slow down a bit and for the hand that clutched the gun to stop shaking. Slowly, he bent over and peered into the hallway through the keyhole in his door.

What he saw made him jump back and gasp in terror.

On the other side of the door, a large burning red eye gazed back at him. This time, though, he managed to get a good look at it. The eye was cat-like in appearance with a slitted pupil and a broad iris. The red it gave off appeared to be an aura; one that he was all too familiar with . . .

Whatever was sitting outside his door . . . whatever was grinding its nails against it to get in . . . whatever that thing was, it had to be Sebastian.

Ciel glanced out of his bedroom window once more. The Blood Moon was burning brighter than ever and was as red as freshly spilled blood. The shade of red must have held some influence on Sebastian's behavior, because as the shade of red deepened the demon's behavior became more aggressive. Now, it sounded like he was throwing himself against the door. Not as if he were trying to break it down. No, if that were the case, Sebastian could have easily torn the wooden oak door to splinters with his bare hands.

Sebastian wasn't trying to get in . . .

He was trying to scare Ciel out. He wanted the earl to be paralyzed with fear - unable to move or escape capture - or perhaps he was trying to get him to escape through the window, possibly resulting in an injury that could significantly slow him down. That would give Sebastian more than enough time to make his way out of the mansion and attack.

Ciel was no longer Sebastian's master. In the demon's eyes, he was prey . . .

. . . but he was prey that could also fight back, and the key to the door lay just under his right foot . . .

In one swift motion, Ciel stooped down and picked it up. He struggled once more to unlock the door, the constant banging making him jump and miss the specific position it took to fit the key into the keyhole. He found it just before the creature outside his door could throw itself into it again, and Ciel pulled it open quickly. He hid behind it as if it were a shield. In the moment where the creature's body should have impact with the door, he heard . . .

Nothing.

Everything went still; eerily so. There was no breathing, no rattling, no scratching, only silence. Ciel quickly moved out from behind the door and aimed the pistol into the doorway. The hallway outside was dark and empty. He stepped out of his room, pointing the gun left, right, up, and behind, and he still saw nothing. It was almost as if the past few minutes had all just been a dream. The only thing there was to prove it hadn't been was when he looked down and saw a multitude of jet black feathers scattered in front of the door. He pushed the door shut slightly to inspect the front of it, and saw long gouge marks carved into the wood. They moved in rows of five; five fingers, five very sharp claws, but whatever had made those marks, whatever owned the burning red eye he saw through the keyhole, was now gone.

Relaxing slightly, Ciel went back into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He went to climb back into bed, only to freeze when something brushed against one of his exposed ankles. A hot breath of air . . . the same one he had felt brush against his knee when he was in Sebastian's room. His heart started to race once more.

It was inside his bedroom.

Carefully, Ciel brought his leg up onto the bed and peered over the edge. The pistol was in front of him again, aimed at the floor where he had felt the breath come from.

"Quit messing around down there!" he ordered, "Come out here right now, Sebastian!"

The young earl half expected the butler's head to pop out from under his bed and turn to smile up at him with that cheeky grin of his. He'd expect him to say something like, "You caught me, Young Master!" or something else that would dismiss this whole night as Sebastian's sick idea of a joke. Sure, Ciel would have been annoyed if that were the case, but it was a much more pleasant of a thought than if he had a demon hunting him.

Ciel waited for what felt like hours before he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. As he turned his head around to look, he saw the shape of a feather gently floating down onto his bed. Another followed, then another, then two more. A minute later it was as if the feathers were raining down from the ceiling.

Ciel glanced up to find the source, only to be frozen in place once more with terror.

It wasn't the eyes that caught him off guard this time. It wasn't the dead gnarled hair, the deathly pale skin, or the clawed bony hands that were only inches away from being able to touch him. It was the set of yellow pointed teeth that were exposed by an eager devilish grin. It was the smell of death and disease that leaked out of him with each heaving breath. It was the slimy tongue that lolled out of his mouth and licked the corners of his deathly blue lips. It was the things Ciel had never, ever seen of Sebastian's demon form; his true form.

Ciel couldn't stop himself from letting out a horrified scream. He bolted from his bed and sprinted towards the door. Behind him, he heard the demon pounce on his bed and emit an enraged snarl. Ciel turned around and fired two shots him with the pistol. At first he thought the gun had been filled with nothing but blanks as he heard the gun go off, but felt no recoil and saw no flash from the bullet being shot out of the barrel. However, despite that, Sebastian's horrifying shape still writhed in agony as two bullet wounds appeared; one digging into his left shoulder, and the other one punching a hole into his abdomen.

The injuries bought Ciel enough time to get the door open and take off in a dead sprint down the hallway. He forced himself to move faster as he heard thunderous footsteps behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see Sebastian sprinting after him, and gaining ground fast.

As Ciel rounded a corner, something grabbed him and pulled him through a door. He found himself in the drawing room with Tanaka standing over him. The elderly servant stood over him with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you hurt, my young lord?" he asked, clutching the earl's shoulders.

Ciel shook his head, "Tanaka, what's going on? What's happening to Sebastian?"

Tanaka quickly moved towards the door and locked it.

"You read the note, didn't you?" The elderly servant asked, "The one you found with that pistol."

Ciel's eyes narrowed, "You know, don't you? You know about Sebastian."

Tanaka gave a small nod.

"For how long?"

"Ever since I came back to the estate, my lord. I know everything; about you summoning him, and about your contract."

Ciel's mind was racing. Sure, Tanaka simply sat around drinking tea most of the time. In fact, he was more of a mascot for the manor than a servant, really. Somehow he knew, even when Sebastian always seemed to be careful not to drop his human facade around the other servants.

"I've known from the moment the two of us met," Tanaka continued, "In fact, I suspected it from the moment I first laid eyes on him. I was a bit surprised when I first confronted him about it, but he assured me that he would bring no harm to you or to the other servants in the house. He was there to fulfill your contract; nothing more, and nothing less. I don't know how smart it is to take the word of a demon, but my own instincts told me that I could trust him."

Tanaka paused and glanced at Ciel, who seemed to be listening with intense interest, before he continued.

"It was a few nights ago when he first approached me about the Blood Moon, and I suppose that was the first time within these past two years that I genuinely feared for your safety because of him . . ."


	3. PART 3

"The devil is an angel too." - Miguel de Unamuno

* * *

 _ ***Flashback***_

Tired.

Hungry.

Agitated.

Impatient.

Sensitive.

Sebastian knew the signs all too well, and of all the things he just had to be in the middle of a contract. A Blood Moon was approaching any day now, and he knew the devastation that would result if he didn't take the necessary precautions.

He couldn't tell Ciel. It was his job as a butler to not only make sure that his master was taken care of, but also to protect him and make sure he didn't ruin his master's impression of him, and the form that presented itself would do more than just ruin it. It would obliterate it. Even Ciel would be afraid, and fear was not a suitable spice for that soul.

But what could he do? The walls and doors were as good as tissue paper against his demon abilities. Locks equally as weak and useless, only requiring a touch more effort to get a door open. Weapons constructed by humans prove to be ineffective at slowing him down, even if he were to be stabbed in the heart or shot in the head an innumerable amount of times.

During these times there were only five things that were efficient enough to trap him and keep the humans surrounding him safe: salt, holy water, holy relics, a trusted acquaintance, and the pistols of holy and unholy essence.

Salt was a natural cleanser. It absorbed energy, which left him feeling weak when he was exposed to it for prolonged periods of time. Sure, he could handle sprinkling it on his master's food, but a circle of salt around a human with an irresistible soul? It was like hanging meat in front of a starving tiger; so close, but still out of reach.

Everyone knew what happened to demons in the face of holy water and holy relics. They were physically, mentally, and emotionally damaging. Even though Sebastian had managed to build a tolerance for rosaries, things like crucifixes, holy bibles, and christian hymns drove him mad.

The pistols of holy and unholy essence weren't just firearms with a fancy title. These were weapons that could be used against any supernatural being; be it an angel, a demon, or a grim reaper. The bullets weren't physical in nature, necessarily. They were merely composed of the good and evil of the world, which meant there was always an infinite supply of ammunition. The one shooting the pistol could unload as many rounds as they wanted without having to worry about running out. It was pretty useful if one found themselves being stalked by a demon caught in the heat of a Blood Moon. While Sebastian used the unholy essence of the bullets to protect himself against angels between contracts, the holy essence protected his masters against him, and a bullet through the head or the heart would be more than enough to kill him. It was a last resort; a trump card against himself should he ever lose control.

A trusted acquaintance was all that he needed; someone he could trust to carry these things in the event of a Blood Moon. More importantly, it had to be someone that would have the nerve to shoot him should something go wrong and his master's life was in danger. The first person that came to mind was Bard, but despite being one of the few of them that were experienced with a gun, the chef had no knowledge of Sebastian's true nature, and coming out as a demon to someone who already feared his wrath when he messed up dinner preparations was just asking to get killed. He could ask Ciel, but it was risky. The earl was still a fragile little human, no matter how much he tried to make himself look indestructible. All it'd take was a simple swipe with a claw, and that would be the end of the Phantomhive name, and his contract.

And he knew that deep down he could never get Mey-Rin or Finny to do it.

There was Tanaka . . .

Tanaka.

When Sebastian actually thought about it, he had no idea what Tanaka's capabilities were. The man just sat around drinking tea most of the time. It was rare that he was ever in his capable servant form. He wondered, given a reason, could Tanaka stay in that form for a whole night? How good was he with a gun, and if it ever came down to it would he have it in him to shoot him? He had to know. The Blood Moon was only two nights away. If it turned out that he couldn't, that no one in this mansion could protect Ciel from him, he could always lock himself outside with Pluto.

With his options limited, Sebastian went to locate the elderly servant. He found him in the dining area sitting on his knees on a small cushion with a hot cup of green tea in his hands. Sebastian looked about him. Ciel was still in his study, and the rest of the servants were scattered throughout the estate doing their chores. The nearest person to the was Bard, and he was in the downstairs kitchen, likely burning his master's lunch; a mess that he wouldn't have to tend to for another . . . five minutes, or so. More than enough time.

"Tanaka," the butler piped up, "Can I please have a with you?"

Tanaka looked up at him and gave him a small nod as he took a fair-sized gulp of his tea. In a flash, the elderly servant was on his feet and in his most capable form.

"What can I do for you, Sebastian?" he asked, "Do you need help with something?"

Sebastian let out a sigh. He hated admitting it whenever he needed help; selfish pride, and all. But he wasn't about to lie and say he pestered Tanaka for nothing, either.

"I suppose you could say that. Yes," he replied, "but first, promise me that this will be kept strictly between us."

Tanaka chuckled, "You should know by now that I'm not one to run my mouth, sir. I promise whatever you have to say will be kept strictly between us. This is a demon problem, I take it?"

"It is, and a pretty severe one at that," Sebastian let out a sigh, "There's a Blood Moon approaching."

Tanaka tilted his head in confusion, "I'm sorry, but what exactly does that mean?"

"It means the young master is in danger."

The butler's words made Tanaka freeze. Judging from the worried expression Sebastian's face held, this could be a life or death situation; one that Ciel wouldn't be able to get himself out of.

"I'm already feeling the signs," Sebastian continued, "and as the nigh draws nearer, I find myself slowly slipping further and further away. The task of trying to act like a human grows more and more difficult. Come the night of the Blood Moon, I doubt there will even be a part of me that could be recognized as human. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm frustrated. That might mean nothing if it was said by a human, but to a demon in a contract, it can spell disaster. I probably wouldn't even be able to stop myself from hurting the young master."

Tanaka was shaking. It was too easy to forget what Sebastian truly was when he acted so human, and now he had been put into a situation where the young earl would have to be physically protected against that nature; the one he hid under a convincing guise.

Sebastian took a step towards Tanaka and rested his hands on his shoulders.

"That's why I need you to do this for me," he said, "I can't protect the master from the creature that I am during the Blood Moon, so here's what I need you to do . . ."

* * *

"Remember your personal demons should be afraid of you, because you are their home, their food, and as you heal, their executioner." - Laurell K. Hamilton


	4. PART 4

_"Remember your personal demons should be afraid of you, because you are their home, their food, and as you heal, their executioner." - Laurell K. Hamilton_

* * *

"Tanaka, what are you doing?"

Ciel watched with curiosity as the elderly servant began pouring a thick line of salt in front of the door. He then proceeded to pour holy water heavily in a line going from one side of the room to the other.

"These were Mr. Sebastian's specific instructions,' Tanaka explained, "If I may ask something of you, sir, could you please stand still for a moment?"

Ciel nodded, and watched as Tanaka poured a large circle of salt around him. It was big enough for him to lay down in it comfortably if he chose to.

"According to Mr. Sebastian, the salt and the water has created three titanium walls. He said to lay down at least three, because he'll manage to get through the first two, but doing so will make him too weak to break through the third."

Ciel looked at the three barriers that had been laid down, then to Tanaka who had his pistol drawn. Maybe it was because he hadn't been able to fully comprehend the situation that had unfolded, but he was beginning to realize how serious this was. Had Sebastian never bothered taking any precautions, had he simply obeyed the order Ciel had given him and stayed in his room with him until he fell asleep, the young earl would have likely been killed by the creature his butler had become, and he was beginning to realize that Sebastian was trying desperately to keep his word; to always keep him out of harm's way, even if it meant utilizing the other servants and turning them on himself.

His master's life always came before his own.

Tanaka and Ciel both froze when a voice suddenly called to them from the other side of the door.

"Young master . . ."

It was barely a whisper, but in the silence that engulfed the drawing room it was more like a scream.

"Young master . . . Young master, are you hiding in there? Young master?"

With each beckon, the voice grew louder, and it chilled Ciel to the core. It sounded like Sebastian. It was Sebastian, but something still felt off about it, somehow. It was like the demon was struggling to mimic his own voice, and as Ciel glanced out the window and saw the Blood Moon still holding its blood-red glow, he knew that that's exactly what it was. The demon was trying to lure him out, or at least give away his position, by making him think that he was back to normal.

Two knocks landed against the door; Sebastian's signature way of requesting permission to enter, but even the knocking didn't sound right. They were heavy and made him jump rather than got his attention, and as the voice kept calling, it started to distort into a hellish and inhuman tone.

"YoUNg MAstER!" Four clawed fingers slipped underneath the door and began raking against the wood, etching four long claw marks deep into it, "LeT Me IN!"

In a swift motion, the demon pulled his finger back, taking a large chunk of the bottom of the door with them. In the hole that had been created, Ciel saw those burning red eyes and that horrible toothy grin. Tanaka fired two shots at him, and the demon retreated for a moment before punching a hole through the center of the door. He slid his arm through the hole he'd made for himself and reached for the inside handle. He seemed to ignore the bullets that burrowed into bicep and forearm as his hand rattled the handle before snapping it off like dead tree branch.

Sebastian was done playing.

With a single kick, the demon sent the door flying off of its hinges. Ciel managed to dodge its path, leaving his circle of salt for a moment as the door clattered to a stop against the wall behind him. The young ear jumped back into the circle of salt and turned to face the demon.

Sebastian sat crouched a few feet away from the doorway, pacing back and forth as he growled in frustration.

"It's working," Tanaka stated, "He can't get past the salt. It's keeping him away, for the moment."

The elderly servant stepped between the snarling demon and Ciel with his pistol in front of him.

"Sebastian, this has to stop," he said calmly, "I know you don't want to hurt the young master. That's why you set all of this up to make sure Ciel was safe. You need to snap out of it, or you'll just live to regret it."

An inhuman smirk parted Sebastian's lips as a chuckle eased out of throat. It sounded metallic and ancient; born from an entirely different universe.

"I don't want to kill you," Tanaka continued, "But I will if that's what it takes to keep my promise to you. To keep the young master safe."

"Tanaka . . ." Ciel said slowly, not taking his eyes off of the pacing demon, "there's no point in trying to reason with Sebastian right now. His mind is gone. The Sebastian you see before you is nothing more than a beast looking for its next meal."

Tanaka turned a glance back towards the young earl, "Then . . ."

"I order you: do whatever it takes to keep me safe until this cursed Blood Moon passes!"

"Yes, my l-"

Before the elderly servant could finish, Sebastian let out an ear piercing shriek as he threw his body through the doorway. He shook his head and winced, almost as if the line of salt was disorienting to cross. Tanaka fired at him several times, hitting his limbs, joint, shoulders, and even buried a few bullets in his abdomen in a desperate attempt to to not kill him, but slow him down; weaken him so he couldn't make it past the second barrier.

It seemed to work. Blood pooled out of the wounds and his lumbering gait slowed as he limped with an ankle, both knees, an elbow, and a wrist blown to pieces with several more injuries to his shoulders and haunches. However, his features held great determination as he closed the gap between him and the holy water that had soaked into the carpet.

Tanaka fired again. The shot managed to graze the Sebastian's neck, but it didn't slow his advances. The demon threw himself across the barrier of holy water and grabbed the elderly servant by the front of his shirt. Despite his weakened state, the demon managed to throw Tanaka across the room towards the doorway. The pistol was immediately thrown from his hands, and as he landed against the wall he lost consciousness.

Ciel was stunned. Not once in the two years Sebastian had severed him had he ever seen him lay a hand on any of the other servants. He could guess that the demon always wanted to rip off Mey-Rin's limbs whenever she fell and broke a tea set. He may have wanted to drop Finny off of the roof whenever he destroyed the garden, or accidentally broke something that wasn't his own neck. He may have wanted to gut Bard like a fish whenever he burned down the kitchen with his flamethrower, or blew it up with dynamite. But he never did, because those three imbeciles were just as capable of protecting Ciel when they worked together as Sebastian was working alone.

This case between Ciel and the demon that stood before him was no different.

"Sebastian!"

The demon's head turned as he dropped back down onto all fours and began circling the outer edge of Ciel's circle of salt. The Earl was finally able to get a good look at the creature that had been stalking him all night. In this form, he walked less like a human and more like a dog with a body akin to that off an emaciated greyhound, only lacking a tail. Each limb looked relatively human, but the hands and feet were merely bone with pale grey skin stretched over them and jet black claws tipping the fingers and toes. Dead, gnarled black hair twisted down to his armpits and appeared to be covered in a layer of ash and grease. Those burning red eyes were sunken into their sockets, and nearly every feature of the demon's skull was visible under the deathly grey skin. And, of course, there were those sharp yellow teeth grinning at him through those dead blue lips. The only thing of the butler that Ciel could recognize were the few tatters that remained of his uniform.

Looking at him closely now, Ciel understood. It wasn't just the Blood Moon that was causing this. If it were, then why not try to kill every human on the estate? Why was it him specifically that Sebastian was after? No, this wasn't just the Blood Moon. This was a demon mad with hunger. The Blood Moon just made him lose control over it.

"Sebastian," Ciel said, trying to hide the tremors in his voice, "I gave you an order!"

The demon paused, the smug smirk falling from his features into a look of annoyance and confusion.

"You swore to protect me, even at the cost of your own life, " the earl continued, "that's why you left me this gun. That's why you wrote that note. That's why you tossed the key under the door after you locked it when you tucked me into bed. Tanaka might have hesitated to pull the trigger, but don't you dare think for a second that I won't!"

The smirk returned to Sebastian's features as he took a challenging step forward, nearly grazing the circle of salt. The demon's limbs trembled as the mineral sapped him of his energy, but he persisted.

Ciel's arms trembled as he attempted to steady the gun. His finger rested atop the trigger as a clawed hand lashed out at him.

* * *

 _"I never thought of it as God. I didn't know what to call it. I don't believe in devils, but demons I do because everyone at one time or another has some kind of demon, even if you call it by another name, that drives them." - Gene Wilder_

* * *

For a moment, Ciel thought he was frozen in time. His finger trembled as it hovered over the trigger, and the clawed hand that lashed out to grasp at him seemed to have stopped halfway and froze there; not moving towards or away from him, just staying there. The only noise that broke the silence between them was the steady dripping sound made by the blood running off of the demon's limbs and torso.

Then, Ciel couldn't help but notice the beams of moonlight that streamed in through a nearby window. He noted their silver and blue aura, and the peace that seemed to come with it. The beams of light illuminated the room, and Ciel noticed the hand that had been reaching out to snatch him. He noted the ivory color of the skin and the finely trimmed black nails that tipped the fingers. He noted the locks of silky, straight black hair that draped his slender porcelain-skinned face down to his chin. He noted the eyes, which no longer burned bright red and held hunger, but had dulled into a red dimmed by the darkness of night and were narrowed with exhaustion. He noted the scraps of clothing that seemed to hang on for dear life onto a body that was thin, but not emaciated. The person that sat crouched before him was no longer a ravenous demon mad with hunger, but his butler sitting motionless, confused, wounded, and drained.

"Sebastian?"

Sebastian didn't respond. He seemed completely lost, unsure of here he was, what he was doing, or what he was going to do. Cautiously, Ciel reached out towards the hand that hovered stock-still in the air. His finger grazed the butler's, and he felt himself shudder as he realized that the demon's skin was ice-cold.

The sudden touch provoked a reaction from Sebastian, however, and Ciel watched him with a guarded stare as the demon slowly lowered his hand to the floor. He seemed to enter a trance-like state as he stood up, turned an limped towards the doorway. Despite his injuries, Sebastian moved with little hindrance as his footsteps faded into the depths of the mansions corridors.


End file.
